Question about cycle and ovulation

I stopped taking BC the last week of December. January cycle was 28 days. February Cycle was 25 days. March was 29 days, April was 22 days, and now here it is today being 26 days, and I am starting my period. I stopped taking BC because of various reasons, one of which included being on them for almost 20 years. I'm 32. We want to have children, just not till the end of this year before we start trying. I started BC because of unpredictable cycles. And as embarrasing as it is, I was starting to be curious at 12. I know you start counting the first day of your period and go 14 days roughly for your ovulation. So is it always that calculation even if you are not on 28 day cycles. I am scared now because I don't know when I can get pregnant and when I can't for SURE. We don't always use a condom. It can kill the mood sometimes. Does anyone know if the calculation changes? And if it does change, how can you know for sure it's going to be right?

The 14 days from the first day of your period is really only somewhat accurate if you have a 28 day cycle. If it's more than or less than that the day is going to be different.

Your best bet would be to chart, then you would know exactly when you are ovulating. It can be a pain in the butt, but it really really helps. Look for the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, it's great.

It's a great book. It helped me to learn how to better expect ovulation and my use of condoms has greatly improved as a result. I mean, I actually know when I really need to use them and when i'm in the clear so I don't have to use them.

If you have a lot of money lying around, you might want to look into buying a LadyComp. It's a mini-computer which tracks your cycles and tells you when it's safe to have sex because you're not ovulating. It's a great little gadget but it's a little too expensive for me. I may buy one if I ever save enough money, but it's been hard lately.